Wall construction



Nov. 19, 1946. Mxr. STRAIGHT 2,411,477

.WALL CONS TRUCT ION Filed Feb. 21, 1944 Mario may/n LL 6y 7 WI,

Patented Nov. 19, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

i anic 1 WALL CONSTRUCTION Merton 1. Straight, Des Moines,IowaApplication February 21, 1944, Serial No. 523,326

5 Cla ms... (Cl. 72127) 1. This invention relates to a Wall constructionand in particular to a wall construction of the type comprised.ofhorizontal .rows of blocks, arranged in tiers. and secured togetherby mortar;

Itis anbbject of this invention to provide anirnproved wall constructioml Another object of this invention is to improve the. ;therma1.insulating. properties of a brick wall const uction. .i U lAgufurther. objectotthis. invention is to provide inia brickwallconstruction, means adapted to economize .on. the amount of mortar usedinthe ,wall and to increase the thermal insulating properties, ofthewall, without impairing the strength of thewalli Yet another objectoitthis inventionisto provide, inna; brickwall construction meanspreventingl moisture. passing through. the mortar fromoneside of thewall to the other.

A still. further object of this invention isto provide inawalbconstruction comprised of an inner wall and an outerlwall, meansfor preventing the inner. and outer wallsbeing in a thermal exchangerelation. i

Aieature. of this invention is found in' the provision of a block wallconstruction havinga space therein extendedl longitudinally of the Wallbetween the sides thereof adapted to receive in wedged engagement anelongated flexible tuberesistant to water. Mortar for holding the blockstogether is confined by the tube to each side of such-;space so that.the tube prevents moisture passing through :the mortarafrom one the wallconstruction to the other 1 Another feature .of this =inventionis found'in the provision,in a wall construction comprised of an inner wall and.an outer wall spaced apart from each other, of; elongated flexibletubes wedged in the, space. between the walls and arrangedlongitudinally of the walls. The tubes divide the walLspace intoaplurality of separate dead air side of passages. so as to preventaoirculation of air,

by convection, across the adjacent sides of the inner and outer wallswherebyto improve the thermal insulating characteristics of the Wallconstructionw Further objects, features "and advantages of tiles orblocks arranged "in tiers having mor'' tar, indicated at H), for holdingthejblocks together in a usual manner. "An outer or veneer WallI21aterally spaced from the inner walllii is formed of bricks I'll-alsoarranged in hori' zontalrows tiered oneabove the otherand see curedtogether by mortar Ill. The innerwall l9 and outer wall l2 are connectedtogether by hooks l l eXtended between the walls and anchored at itsends in the mortarbetween adjacent rows of blocks H and bricks E4 in thewalls It and I-Z, respectively. As thus far described the wallconstruction isofa type well know the prior art.

In walls of thisbonstruction the outer 'sur faces of the blocks H andbricks it are usually glazed, or the blocks and bricks are composed of ahardmaterialsoas to be substantially im-f pervious to water. "Ihe motarl5, however, is of a ratherlose consistenc'yso that even afterit becomeshardened moisture is able to pass therethrough b-y capillary action. l6between the walls iii and l2 is relatively small the mortar [5, whichoverruns each wall, extends into the space I6 so that mortar from'theWalls is in contacting engagement, or at least" in an overhangingrelation within the space It. As a result moisture from the mortar inthe outer wall l2'is able to pass tc the mortar in the inner wall H3 anddrains outwardly from the "side I! of theinner wall. "This passage ofmoisture through the wallis, of course, objectionable because of theresulting dampness" in the space adjacent the side ll-of the inner'wallH! and L a the possibility of resultantinjury to material. 16-" thisinvention will be apparent from the following description when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing inwhich:

Figxl is a plan perspective view of one form of wall construction ofthis invention comprising an inner wall and an outer wall;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an elongated flexcatedin such space. I 1

A further objection to this prior art wall' construction is foundinthefact that the wall readily conducts heat from one side to the other soas to be a relativelydnefiicient thermal in sulator. Thermal conductionthrough the wall occurs by virtue of an air circulation being set upwithin the space 16 by convection. Thus assuming the outer wall I 2 tobe cold and the inner Where the space mortar is entirely wasted.

wall IIJ warm, air in the space I6 will flow downwardly across the wallI2 and upwardly across the inner wall II]. By virtue of this circulationof air the wall I9 is constantly cooled and continuously draws heat byconduction from the side I1, and, therefore, is always continuouslycooled to in turn cool the space adjacent thereto.

These objections in the above described wall construction are overcomein the present invention by the insertion within the space I6 offlexible elongated tubular members or inserts I 8 (Figs. 1 and 2). Eachinsert or tube I8 has water repellant characteristics and may becomposed of tar paper, of heavy paper or thin metal with an asphaltcoating, or of thin rust-proof metal. The tubes I8 are horizontallypositioned in a vertically stacked relation within the space I6 so as toextend longitudinally of the walls Ill and I2, with this assembly of thetubes I8 being made during the building up of the wall construction.

The diameter of the tubes I8 relative to the width of the space I6 issuch that the tubes are slightly flattened as indicated at I9, andwedged in the space I6 between the walls II] and I2. By virtue of thisassembly of the tubes I 8 in the wall construction the space I6 isdivided into a plurality of separated passages or pockets ex: tendedlongitudinally of the walls I and I2. The air within the space I6 isthus incapable of being circulated by convection since it is confined inpockets formed by the tubes. The Walls In and I2, therefore, arethermally insulated from each other to in turn provide for a wallconstruction having eflicient thermal insulating properties.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 two adjacent rows of bricks I 4 providea vertical height of the outer wall I2 which is the equivalent of asingle row of blocks I I in the inner wall ID. The size of each tube I8is such that when it is inserted in a wedged position within the spaceI6,

its vertical height is substantially equal to the vertical height of arow of bricks I4, with the flattened tube portions I9, resulting fromthe tube being wedged within the space of bricks I4. constructionsubstantially to the top of a row As is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1this and arrangement of the tubes I8 provides for alternate tubesin thespace I6 having their flattened portions I 9 extended substantially tothe top of a row of blocks II. Thus when mortar is placed on the top ofa row of bricls I4 or blocks II the mortar is prevented from enteringthe space It by the tubes I8 so that no mortar overruns the walls IIIand I2 into the space I6.

Since the'mortar which flows or overruns into the space I6 performs nouseful function in strengthening the wall construction, such Thus theholding of the mortar within the confines of a wall Ii] and I2 by thetubes I8 produces a saving in the mortar without in any way decreasingthe overall strength of the wall construction. ,It has been found inpractice that this saving in mortar substantially covers the cost of thetubes I 8.

With the mortar in each wall I0 and I2 thus separated by the tubes I8 adefined gap or space is provided between opposite horizontal layers ofmortar 55 in the walls Ill and I2 was to positively eliminate anypassage of water through the mortar from one wall to the other.

In Fig. 4 the wall construction of Fig. 1 is shown constructed withtubes I8a which are I 6, extending somewhat smaller in diameter than thetubes I8 so that the tubes I8a are relatively spaced vertically withinthe space I6. Each tube I8a is positioned opposite the top of a row ofbricks I I in the outer wall I2, with every other tube I8a beingopposite the top of a row of blocks II in the inner wall I0. Thefunction of the tubes I8a is similar in all respects to the tubes'IBdescribed in connection with Figs. 1 and 3 so that a further descriptionof the tubes I8a is believed to be unnecessary.

The modified form of wall construction in Fig. 5 is comprised ofhorizontal rows of blocks 2|, with each block being of the usual typehaving a longitudinally extended groove 22 in the top and alongitudinally extended groove 23 in the bottom thereof. In buildingthis wall construction the lower groove 23 in one tier is positionedopposite an upper groove 22 in a next vertically adjacent block 2| sothat the grooves 22 and 23 define a space 24 which extendslongitudinally with-in the wall. In the normal construction of the wallin Fig. 5 the space 24 is entirely filled with mortar I5 so thatmoisture is able to pass by capillary action from one side to the otherof the wall. To prevent this passage of moisture through the wall a tubeI8 is located in the space 2% in a wedged position so as to be incontacting engagement with the sides of the grooves 22 and 23. During thassembly of the wall the tube I8 is initially positioned in the uppergrooves 22 of lower blocks 2i and mortar I5 placed on such lower blocksadjacent the tube I8. A next adjacent upper row of blocks 21 is thenplaced on the lower blocks with their bottom grooves 23 opposite theupper grooves 2| of the lower row of blocks. The tube i8 thus preventsany mortar I5 from passing into the space 213 and provides a gap betweenthe portions of mortar I5 to each side of the space 24 so as to preventany flow of moisture through the mortar I5 from one side of the wall tothe other.

Although the invention has beendescribed with respect to severalpreferred embodiments thereof it is not to be so limited since changestherein can be made which are within the full intended scope of thisinvention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A wall construction comprising an inner wall and an outer wall spacedapart from each other, with each wall comprised of a row of horizontalblocks arranged in tiers and secured together by mortar, and flexiblwater repellant tubes wedged in the space between said inner wall andouter wall and extended longitudinally of said two walls, said tubesretaining the mortar at said space within the confines of acorresponding wall to obstruct the passage of moisture from the outerwall to said inner wall through the mortar.

2. A wall construction comprising an inner wall and an outer wall havinga space therebetween,

- with each wall being comprised of blocks arranged in horizontal tiersand having mortar therebetween, and flexible water repellant cylindricalmembers of a diameter such that they can be wedged in the space betweensaid two walls, said members being positioned horizontally between saidtwo walls, with a member having a wedging surface adjacent the top levelof a tier of blocks to retain the mortar between adjacent tiers in awall within the confines of the wall, 7

' 3. In a wall construction comprising horizontal tiers of blocks andmortar between said tiers for securing the blocks together, means forpreventing moisture from travelling by capillary action through saidmortar from one side of the wall construction to the other side thereofincluding a water repellant flexible tube, said blocks being constructedand arranged to form a space within the wall extended longitudinally ofthe wall, said tube being horizontally positioned in said space andwerlged between the sides of the space, with the mortar between adjacenttiers of blocks being confined by a tube from passing into said space.

4. In a wall construction comprising horizontally tiered blocks witheach block being of a type having a groove in the top and bottomextended longitudinally of the block, with a top groove in a block inone tier forming a space with the bottom groove in a block in a nextadjacent tier, with said two blocks being secured together by mortartherebetween, means for preventing moisture from travelling through saidmortar laterally of the wall including a flexible tube having waterresistant characteristics, with the tube being positioned in said spacelongitudinally of the blocks and of a size adapted to be wedged betweenthe sides of corresponding grooves in adjacent tiers of blocks to holdthe mortar against entering said space.

5. A wall construction comprised of horizontal tiers of blocks with alayer of mortar between adjacent tiers, and having a longitudinalpassage therein extended across a plane common to said layer of mortar,and a flexible water repellent tube in said passage intercepting saidplane to provide an air pocket within the wall and to keep any moisturein said layer of mortar from seeping across said passage.

MERTON T. STRAIGHT.

